Device for circular engraving

ABSTRACT

A device for circular engraving for use with a pantographic engraving apparatus or the like which employs a circular character disk mounted on a support member about an axis of rotation. The character disk has a plurality of spaced, circumferentially arranged tracing characters (the letters of the alphabet and/or numerals). A circular layout disk overlies the character disk and is mounted for rotation about the same axis as for the character disk. The layout disk has a diameter which does not exceed the diameter of the character disk. Means is provided for releasably securing the layout disk to the support member while permitting the character disk to be rotated with respect to the support member and the layout disk.

United States Patent [191 [111 3,714,713 Jadow Feb. 6, 1973 DEVICE FOR CIRCULAR ENGRAVING Primary ExaminerHarry N. Haroian [75] Inventor: Henry C. Jadow, New York, NY. AImmey Harry Shaplro [73] Assignee: B. Jadow and Sons, Inc., New York, [57] ABSTRACT N.Y. A device for circular engraving for use with a pantol Flledl p 1971 graphic engraving apparatus or the like which employs [21] APP NOJ 180,574 a circular character disk mounted on a support member about an axis of rotation. The character disk has a plurality of spaced, circumferentially arranged [1.8. CI- i tracing characters letters of the alphabet and/or [5 1] Int. Cl. ..B43l 13/10 numerals) circular layout disk overlies the [58] Fleld of Search "333/25 25 23 R, 23 K character disk and is mounted for rotation about the same axis as for the character disk. The layout disk [56] References C'ted has a diameter which does not exceed the diameter of UNITED STATES PATENTS the character disk. Means is provided for releasably securing the layout disk to the support member while 2,724,896 7 11/1955 Mich ..33/25 R permitting the character disk to be rotated with 3,310,874 3/1967 Berlant ..33/2 K respect to the support member and the layout disk. 3,295,211 1/1967 Nisenson ..33/23 K 7 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures 78 so 84 e2 48 40 t \lu LL l M l4 4 34 l 36 Pmmcuraa a ma 3.714.713 sum 10F 2 INVENTOR. HENRY C. JADOW ATTORNEY I PATENTEDFEB 6 I973 3,714,713

INVENTOR. HENRY C. J ADOW ATTORN EV DEVICE FOR CIRCULAR ENGRAVING The invention relates to improvements in devices or fixtures cooperable with engraving machines to enable engraving on an arc of a circle.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Devices or fixtures for circular engraving are known in the art. One such device is disclosed in U.S. Berlant Pat. No. 3,310,374 granted March 28, 1967. In this prior art device, a circular character disk having a series of circumferentially spaced tracing characters recessed into the surface thereof is adapted for cooperation with a tracing stylus on an arm of a pantograph engraving machine, another arm of the machine having a cutting stylus cooperable with a work piece to engrave a selected message thereon. In this device, a layout table is provided with a central recess to receive and surround the character disk. The layout table has a series of permanent reference indicia thereon to permit centering the position of the layout or message to be engraved on the work piece.

A limitation of this prior art arrangement is that the layout table requires that the message be precisely positioned thereon initially. It is first necessary to count the number of characters in the message. Next, a determination must be made as to the exact location of the center character; that is, if the message contains seventeen characters including intervals between words, the geometrical center will be the ninth character. Finally, the message must be precisely positioned by writing it on the layout table so that the center character will be adjacent to a particular indicia or reference mark on the layout table.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A primary object of the invention is to provide an improved device or fixture for circular engraving which simplifies the manipulative effort and the operation of setting up the device to enable the engraving of the desired message.

Another object of the invention isto provide a circular engraving device of a simplified construction.

In accordance with the invention a support member is provided which will fit in the usual track of a pantograph type of engraving machine. A circular character disk is mounted on the support member on an axis of rotation, and a circular layout disk is mounted on the same axis of rotation to overlie the character disk in superimposed relationship. The layout disk upon which the desired message is erasably written to permit its use and continued reuse has a diameter which does not exceed the diameter of the character disk. On the same axis of rotation for the character disk and for the layout disk, means is provided for releasably securing or locking the layout disk in a fixed position so that there is no relative movement between the layout disk and the support member. Such means, however, is constructed to permit rotation of the character disk with respect to the layout disk when in its fixed condition. The character disk is rotated to selected positions corresponding to the respective selected tracing characters thereon to enable the translation of the selected characters for engraving upon the work piece.

These, and other objects and-advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description, taken in conjunction with the drawings, which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of a pantograph type of engraving machine having the circular engraving device of the invention related thereto;

FIG. 2 is a detailed showing of the circular engraving device;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal cross sectional view taken approximately in the plane of line 3-3 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 2 with the character disk shown in reverse position.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. generally designated 10 has associated therewith a circular engraving fixture according to the invention generally designated 12. The engraving apparatus may be of the well known pantographic type. Since pantographic engraving devices are well known, the structural details thereof and operation will not be described herein except as may be necessary to provide a full and complete understanding of the present invention.

The circular engraving fixture 12 includes an elongated supporting base member 14' having a pair of oppositely disposed, longitudinally extending chamfered or beveled side edges 16 and 18. As shown in FIG. 1, the chamfered side edges are adapted to cooperate with a pair of matingly chamfered flanges 20 and 22 formed at the sides of a longitudinally extending carriage way or track 24 for adjustably mounting the fixture in the engraving apparatus. The transverse dimension of the support member 14 is slightly less than the distance between flanges 20 and 22; accordingly, the position of the support member is adapted to be longitudinally adjusted within the track, but is prevented from rotating. In order to fixedly secure the support member 14 relative to the track once the position of the member along the track has been established, a set screw 26 is provided. The set screw includes a shank portion 28 threadedly engaging a through opening 30 in the support member, the shank portion being sized to extend beyond the bottom surface 32 of the support member (FIG. 3) for locking against the base of the track 24 when the screw is tightened.

An upwardly extending substantially cylindrically shaped shaft or spindle 34 is fixedly secured within a bore or opening 36 in the support member 14 substantially midway of the side edges 16 and 18. As shown in FIG. 3, the spindle 34 has its lower extremity flush mounted or slightly recessed with respect to the lower surface 32 of the support member 14 and includes a circular radially extending middle flange portion defining an annular shoulder 38. A substantially rectangularly shaped, relatively thin, fiat table or platform member 40 having a cylindrical central opening 42 sized to conform to the outside diameter of the lower portion of spindle 34 is symmetrically disposed relative to the longitudinal axis of the support member 14. The platform member is maintained in a fixed abutting relationship with the upper surface of the support member by the downward pressure of the shoulder 38 acting against the area of'the platform member adjacent the 1, an engraving apparatuscomplished' by central opening 42. Preferably, and as shown in FIG. 3, a pair of longitudinally spaced small pins, flathead screws or the like 44 and 46 are disposed on opposite sides of spindle 34 along the central longitudinal axis of the supporting member to prevent the rotation of the platform member 40 relative to the support member 14, and to secure the connection of the parts in fixed relation to one another. The top ends of the connecting pins are flush with or lower than the top surface of the platform member 40.

Although the platform member 40 is not essential, the provision thereof furnishes a larger supporting surface area than the surface area of the support member 14 the width of which is selected to fit into tracks of engraving machines already in use. For original equipment, the track may be made sufficiently wide, whereby the. correspondingly wide support would furnish a firm supporting surface for a circular character disk 48. The bottom surface of the character disk rests on the upper surface of the platform member 40. The character disk is thus disposed in a generally overlying and symmetrical manner relative to platform member 40, and is concentrically .located with reference to spindle 34 by way of a central cylindrical opening 49 whose diameter is equal to the diameter of the shoulder 38. As also shown in FIG. 3, the height of the shoulder 38 extends slightly above the upper surface of the character disk to furnish a small clearance space above the disk. By this arrangement, the

character disk is free to rotate in relation to the platform member 40 about an axis defined by thespindle 34. The reason'for this arrangement will'be apparent from the description which follows.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the diameter of the character disk 48 is of a diameter so that opposed edge portions thereof extend beyond the sides of platform member 40. Rotation of the character disk or its removal of the character disk from thespindle is acsimply grasping the overlying portions of the disk.

With reference to FIGS. 2 and 4, opposite sides of the character disk 48 are provided near the outer edge of the disk with circumferentially arranged rows of tracing characters 50 and 50. The tracing characters are the'letters of the alphabet, numerals from 2' to 9 (numerals l and may be represented by the letters I and O), and any additional characters such as a period,

comma, hyphen, etc. Each character is equiangularly spaced with respect to its adjacent characters and is disk 48 and/or the axis of spindle 34. Accordingly, if

, each side of the disk has thirty-six characters thereon,

the 'centerline of each character 50'(or 50) will be As is known in this art, the tracing characters 50 and 50' may be prepared on a suitable cutting machine or apparatus which forms each character by cutting it into or recessing it below the surface on each side of the disk 48. The resulting recessed nature of the tracing characters will thus enable them respectively to cooperatively receive the tracing stylus 52 of the engraving apparatus (FIG. 1) so that when the latter is caused to follow the recessed formation of a particular tracing character on disk 48, the engraving tool 54 will function to cut a similar character into an article 56 being engraved.

character, and the intermediate alternate notches are evenly radially spaced with respect to the-center of the ing characters on opposite sides of the disk 48 are the same and are equally spaced about a concentric circle of the same diameter. However, the characters 50 (FIG. 2) are arranged so that their uppermostportions are closest to the outer edge of the disk, whereas the characters 50' (FIG. 4) are positioned so that their lowermost portions are closest to the outer edge of the disk. The reason for this difference in relative orientation between characters 50 and 50 will be explained below.

aligned midway between each pair of adjacent charac ters. The notches 58 are adapted respectively to be normally engaged by a reciprocable dog or detent 60. As shown in FIG. 3, the detent is attached at its base to the top of a block 62 which, in turn, is slidably mounted in a rectangularly shaped recess or; slot 64 formed in the support member 14. The slot 64 extends along the central longitudinal axis of the support member, and is of a length to permit the block 62, and therefore the detent 60, to be, reciprocated back and forth along the slot, whereby the detent may engage and disengage. the notches 58. A small rod 66 attached to the block 62 and extending in an opposite direction therefrom with reference to detent 60 is slidably received in a longitudinal bore 68 located inthe support member 14 below the uppersurface thereof. The outer end of the rod is connected to one end of a compression spring 70 the other end. of which is fixedly secured to a terminal plug 72 fixedly fastened within the bore 68. With this arrangement, the spring 70 acts to normally bias the detent 60 into engagement with the peripheral edge of the character disk and into the notches 58, thereby fixing the angular position of the character disk. An upwardly extending rod or post 74 connected to the block 62 provides a handle for reciprocating the detent 60 in and out of engagement with the notches, thereby permitting the character disk to be rotated or indexed with respect to the platform member 40, also support member-14;

A, relatively thin, circular layout disk 76 is arranged .in superimposed, concentric relationship with respect to the character disk 48. The layout disk has a central opening 78 of a diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the upper portion 80 of-the spindle 34. Accordingly, and as shown in FIG. 3, the layout disk is supported directly by the annular shoulder 38 on the r spindle. Preferably, the upper portion 80 of the spindle 34 is externally threaded for cooperation with a lock nut 82 having an internally threaded central bore 84. The extreme lower portion of the lock nut is of reduced diameter to provide a downwardlyextending boss 86, the bottom surface of which isadapted to press the layout disk 76 against the shoulder 38 on the spindle.

Thus, by tightening down on the lock nut, the layout disk 76 is fixed or secured relative to the spindle. As previously indicated, there is a small clearance between the upper surface of the character disk 48 and the upper edge of the shoulder 38. Thus, while the layout disk 76 cannot rotate when the lock nut has been tightened, the character disk 48 nevertheless is free to rotate when the detent 60 is disengaged from the notches 58. By simply loosening the lock nut, the layout disk may be rotated relative to the spindle and/or the character disk. By removing the lock nut entirely from the threaded upper portion of the spindle, the character disk and the layout disk may both be quickly and easily disassembled from the support member 14 and the platform member 40.

The layout disk 76 is fabricated from a suitable, long wearing, substantially rigid material having a surface capable of receiving erasable written indicia thereon, such indicia being indicated, for example, by reference numeral 88 in FIGS. 2 and 4. One particular material which has been found to be satisfactory is aluminum anodized to furnish a white surface. It will be apparent that any substantially rigid material which provides a surface capable of receiving clear writing thereon which. is erasable may be used for the layout disk.

The indicia 88 which are written onto the surface of the layout disk 76 cooperates with a plurality of layout indicia carried on each side of the character disk 48. The layout indicia on the character disk, as distinguished from the tracing characters 50, 50' thereon, comprise two sets of circumferentially arranged, radial line segments indicated generally by reference numbers 90 and 92.

The first set of layout indicia on the character disk 48 includes 36 line segments equiangularly spaced about a circle whose center coincides with the center of the character disk. Each radial line segment 90 is located between adjacent tracing characters. Accordingly, and where there are 36 tracing characters on a side, the radial line segments 90 are spaced apart, and are aligned respectively with every second one of the segments 92 located at the 45, l35, 225, and 315 positions of th disk will be aligned with an imaginary radius passing midway between two adjacent tracing characters. Finally, it will be noted that the eight line segments 92 in the second set of layout indicia are aligned with every ninth notch 58 of the character disk.

The two sets of layout indicia 90 and 92 are inscribed on or otherwise permanently applied to each side of the character disk 48 in any suitable and well known manner, such as by cutting them directly into the surface of the disk with the same apparatus used to form the tracing characters. 9

The initial steps of positioning the circular engraving fixture 12 in the slide 24 of the engraving apparatus, measuring the diameter of the disk orarticle 56. to be engraved, setting the correct pantog raph ratio, and

peripheral edge notches 58. Moreover, the radial line segments 90 are generally located on a concentric circle whose diameter lies between the outer diameter of the layout disk 76 and the diameter of the concentric circle on disk 48 defining the location of the tracing characters 50 (or 50'). Consequently, and as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the radial line layout indicia segments 90 appear to radiate out from the peripheral outer edge of layout disk 76 toward the inner extremities of the tracing characters 50, 50 thus defining individual tracing character spaces immediately adjacent to the outer peripheral edge of the layout disk.

The second set of layout indicia provided on the character disk 48 includes a series of eight radial line segments 92 positioned equiangularly around the outer circumference of this disk, and extend inwardly along toward the outer extremeties of the tracing characters 50 and 50'. As shown in FIGS. 2 and .4, the eight line segments 92 divide each side of the disk into evenly spaced sections or more precisely, into octants, with the lines located at the 0, 90, 180, and 270 positions of the disk being aligned with the center lines of adjacent tracing characters. Since each quadrant of the character disk contains ten characters, the radial line centering and then locking the article 56 into its workholder (FIG. 1), is a procedure known in the art. The manner of using the circular engraving fixture of the invention will now be described. For the purpose of illustration, let it be assumed that the indicia to be engraved on the circular article 56 comprises a two-part inscription: TO JOHN WITH LOVE" and FROM HELEN, with the first part of the inscription message being on the upper half of the disk, and the second part on the lower half of the disk. In order to engrave TO JOHN WITH LOVE in an upright position on the upper half of the disk 56, the side of the character disk 48 is used which, as shown in FIG. 2, has the characters 50 arranged thereon with their uppermost portions closest tothe outer edge of the character disk in the upper half of the disk. Next, by moving the handle 74'to the left as viewed in FIG. 2, the dog 60 is disengaged from a notch 58, and the disk 48 is rotated until one of the radial line segments in thesecond set of layout indicia, such as the segment 92a adjacent to letter L, for example, appears directly opposite the dog 60, whereupon the handle 74 is released causing the dog 60 to re-engage notch 58 to hold the disk in the angular position shown in FIG. 2.

The message TO JOHN WITH LOVE is now written on the layout disk 76. This is done by writing with a pencil or other erasable element the message onto the exposed surface of the layout disk in substantially the same manner it is to appear in engraved form on the article 56. Thus, the writing on the lay-out disk will extend arcuately in an upright and clockwise sense adjacent to and along the outer edge contour of the disk, as illustrated in FIG. 2. For convenience, the first set oflayout indicia on the character disk 48 may be used as spacing guides with one character space being used for each letter or interval between words.

Significantly, the writing of the words TO JOHN WITH LOVE may be accomplished at any angular position on the layout disk because means in the form of the second set of layout indicia 92 are provided on total is even or odd. For example, in the message TO JOHN WlTH LOVE," there are seventeen characters as follows:

TO JOHN WITH LO letter or spacing between words appears directly opposite a corresponding character space on the character disk. A character space is the space between any two adjacent radial line segments 90 of the first set of layout indicia on the character disk. As a result, the layout disk is centered, as shown in FIG. 2, and the lock nut 82 may be tightened to firmly secure the layout disk in proper position.

The actual engraving of TO JOI-IN WITH LOVE on disk 56 is accomplished as follows. The dog 60 is disengaged via the handle 74, and the character disk is rotated relative to the layout disk until the tracing character T on the former lies directly opposite the letter T in the layout written on the latter. Next, the handle 74 is released to enable the dog 60 to engage a notch 58 on the edge of the character disk thereby fixing the position thereof. The first letter in the message is then engraved by using the tracing stylus 52 and the cutting stylus 54 (FIG. 1) in a known manner. The same procedure is repeated for the next letter, i.e., the

' character disk is indexed to a new position whereby the LOVE is engraved on the article 56. I I

In order to engrave FROM HELEN in the desired upright position on the lower half of the disk 56, the

lock nut 82 is unscrewed from the spindle permitting the layout disk and then the character disk 48 to be removed from the spindle. The character disk" is reversed on the spindle, the layout disk placed thereon, and the lock nut threaded onto the spindle so that the assemblyappears as shown in FIG. 4. As shown, the

- characters are right side up on the bottom half of the character disk. The message FROM HELEN is written on the layout disk in substantially the same manner as described above in connection with the I message "TO JOHN WITH LOVE; thatis, starting at any angular position on the disk the letters are strung out in an .upright, arcuate manner. This time, however, the

message layout will extend counterclockwise along the outer contour of the layout disk as viewed in FIG. 4.

12 45678910 FROM'HELEN In this instance, the layout disk is centered by rotating it about the spindle until the message FROM HELEN is symmetrically disposed in relation to the radial line segments 92c and 92d, and each letter or space between words appears directly opposite a corresponding radial line segment 90, as shown in FIG. 4.

To summarize, the distinction between centering the layout disk when the message layout has an even number of characters (FIG. 4) and when the layout has an odd number of characters (FIG. 2) is that'in the former case, the letters or characters in the layout are respectively aligned opposite a corresponding radial line segment on the character disk, whereas in the latter case, the letters are aligned opposite the space between two corresponding adjacent radial line segments 90.

After the layout disk has been centered as viewed in FIG. 4, the characters FROM HELEN" are engraved on the article 56 in the same manner described above in connection with the message shown in FIG. 2.

By providin g a circular layout disk concentrically superimposed with respect to the character disk and adapted for relative rotation therewith, and by providing a plurality of layout indicia on the character disk for cooperative alignment with a message 'writtenon the layout disk, the circular engraving fixture of the invention is compact in construction and comparatively inexpensive to manufacture. The layout message may be written in any convenient position on the layout disk, and then the layout disk may be quickly and easily centered with respect to the character disk without requiring that the exact number of characters and spaces in the message be known in order to ascertain the exact center of the layout. It is only necessary to note whether the total is odd'or even.

It is believed that the advantages and improved results furnished by the device of the invention will be apparent from the foregoing description of a preferred embodiment of the-invention. Various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as sought to be defined in the claims.

Iclaim: I

1. A device for circular engraving comprising a support member, a circular character disk mounted on the support member on an axis of rotation, the character disk having a plurality of spaced, circumferentially ar- I ranged tracing characters, a circular layout disk having a diameter not exceeding the diameter of the character disk overlying the character disk and mounted for rotation on the aforesaid axis of rotation, means on said axis of rotation for releasably locking the layout disk in a fixed position while allowing rotation of the character disk, and means cooperable with the character disk to releasably secure the character disk in selected positions to which the character disk is rotated.

cludes a second set of equiangularly spaced radial lines located on a diameter outwardly spaced from the first set of radial lines.

5. A device according to claim 3 wherein the means cooperable with the character disk to releasably secure the character disk in selected positions to which the character disk is rotated comprises equiangularly spaced notches at the periphery of the character disk and a spring mounted detent cooperable with the notches, the radial lines of the first set of indicia being aligned with every second notch, the number of notches being twice the number of tracing characters.

6. A device according to claim 1 wherein the means on said axis of rotation for releasably locking the layout disk in a fixed position while allowing rotation of the character disk comprises a spindle fixedly connected to the support member, the spindle having an annular flange, the character disk being rotatable about the flange, the layout disk being rotatably supported on the flange, and a lock nut threadedly engaging the upper portion of the spindle to releasably lock the layout disk against the flange.

7. A device for circular engraving according to claim 1 including layout indicia on the character disk comprising a first set of radial lines equiangularly spaced about the center provided by said axis of rotation, the

lines being positioned between adjacent tracing characters and on a diameter inward of the tracing characters, and a second set of equiangularly spaced radial lines located adjacent the periphery of the character disk; wherein the diameter of the layout disk is less than the diameter on which the first set of radial lines is positioned; wherein the means cooperable with the character disk to releasably secure the character disk in selected positions to which the character disk is rotated comprises equiangularly spaced notches at the periphery of the character disk and a spring mounted detent cooperable with the notches, the radial lines of the first set of indicia being aligned with every second notch, and the number of notches being twice the number of tracing characters; and wherein the means on said axis of rotation for releasably locking the layout disk in a fixed position while allowing rotation-of the character disk comprises a spindle fixedly connected to the support member, the spindle having an annular flange, the character disk being rotatable about the flange, the layout disk being rotatably supported on the flange, and a lock nut threaded on the upper portion of the spindle to releasably lock the layout disk against-the flange. 

1. A device for circular engraving comprising a support member, a circular character disk mounted on the support member on an axis of rotation, the character disk having a plurality of spaced, circumferentially arranged tracing characters, a circular layout disk having a diameter not exceeding the diameter of the character disk overlying the character disk and mounted for rotation on the aforesaid axis of rotation, means on said axis of rotation for releasably locking the layout disk in a fixed position while allowing rotation of the character disk, and means cooperable with the character disk to releasably secure the character disk in selected positions to which the character disk is rotated.
 1. A device for circular engraving comprising a support member, a circular character disk mounted on the support member on an axis of rotation, the character disk having a plurality of spaced, circumferentially arranged tracing characters, a circular layout disk having a diameter not exceeding the diameter of the character disk overlying the character disk and mounted for rotation on the aforesaid axis of rotation, means on said axis of rotation for releasably locking the layout disk in a fixed position while allowing rotation of the character disk, and means cooperable with the character disk to releasably secure the character disk in selected positions to which the character disk is rotated.
 2. A device for circular engraving according to claim 1 including a plurality of circumferentially arranged layout indicia of the character disk.
 3. A device for circular engraving according to claim 2 wherein the layout indicia on the character disk includes a first set of radial lines equiangularly spaced about the center provided by said axis of rotation, the lines being positioned between adjacent tracing characters.
 4. A device for circular engraving acCording to claim 3 wherein the layout indicia on the character disk includes a second set of equiangularly spaced radial lines located on a diameter outwardly spaced from the first set of radial lines.
 5. A device according to claim 3 wherein the means cooperable with the character disk to releasably secure the character disk in selected positions to which the character disk is rotated comprises equiangularly spaced notches at the periphery of the character disk and a spring mounted detent cooperable with the notches, the radial lines of the first set of indicia being aligned with every second notch, the number of notches being twice the number of tracing characters.
 6. A device according to claim 1 wherein the means on said axis of rotation for releasably locking the layout disk in a fixed position while allowing rotation of the character disk comprises a spindle fixedly connected to the support member, the spindle having an annular flange, the character disk being rotatable about the flange, the layout disk being rotatably supported on the flange, and a lock nut threadedly engaging the upper portion of the spindle to releasably lock the layout disk against the flange. 